Wings of Thunder
by Rooivalk253
Summary: This is a story I wrote in late 2011, but never completed because I was unsatisfied with the way I wrote it. I'm posting it here to see if I can get some feedback on it, as I am currently considering going back and re-writing it in the near future, though that will depend on the feedback I get and whether it is positive or not.
1. Chapter 1

Steven McEvedy sat back in his chair and sighed. He'd been commanding the Sturmovik mercenary unit for perhaps ten months now, and this was by far the most boring mission they had ever taken on. Two months prior, they'd been approached by a Lyran employer who had wanted them to provide a security force for one of his new mining facilities. The pay had been great, and they had taken the job willingly. However, now even the modified quarters on their Union dropship, spacious compared to some vessels, were beginning to feel cramped and confining. The only solace he had was that in two days time, they would be heading for the jump point to be picked up and receive their paycheck. Pushing himself up, Steven left the area and headed to the bridge. At least there he could maybe find one of the dropship cremen and swap stories about the old days.

The bridge was quiet today, as it usually was, since the other crewmen were finding other things to do. The only three people in the room were Jason Yanovitch, the captain, and two techies monitoring the sensor readouts with rather bored expressions. Jason looked up from the papers he was filling out and smiled. "Steven, have a seat." Steven nodded and pulled up a chair. He and Jason had been friends for a while now. Back in his youth, the old man had helped guide him to where he was now, and the two had been friends ever since. The two of them were soon involved in a deep conversation about times gone by, while the techies listened with rapt attention, their sensors forgotten.

Suddenly, the sensor readouts started blaring warnings, snapping all of them out of their enjoyment. Steven rushed to the sensors with Jason directly behind him as the technicians rapidly began processing the information. It didn't look good. "Sir, we have numerous hostile forces inbound, dropships are landing due south of our position and naval forces are moving into planetary bombardment positions. They're moving on our position, ETA, twenty minutes." The technician's face was creased with worry. Steven turned to Jason. "We may be in a real fix this time, mate. Think we can make it past those ships?" Jason frowned and shook his head. "Too many of 'em. We don't have the speed or the armor. We'd be blasted before the halfway." Steven nodded. "Then I guess we have no choice. Give the order to stand and deliver."

In just ten minutes, everyone on board the dropship was at their combat positions, with Steven and the other mechwarriors lined up in a protective formation at the base. "Get ready, people, here they come!" Steven called. Just as the first wave of forces appeared around the trees and ridges, the team began firing with everything they had, while the crew on the Union started firing their guns at the enemies beyond the sight of their ground-based members to try and weaken the charge. Steven headcapped one of the enemy mechs just as it charged around a ridge, frying another one that had closed the distance with his medium lasers. Sidestepping to the left to dodge an enemy round, Steven relished the responsiveness of the Osprey beneath him. Firing his Gauss once again, the round streaked into another mech, sending it toppling into another mech behind it and setting off an ammo explosion that destroyed both mechs and a third behind them. The enemy forces were weakening. They could do this. But their opponents had a trick up their sleeve. A flight of ten Hydaspes fighters suddenly came streaking up over the ridgeline, pouring their entire load of weapons into the team's dropship. Unions were robust, but not even their modified vessel could withstand that kind of a pounding. The starboard side of the vessel crumpled inward under the force of the attack, knocking out the weapons on that side. As the fighters finished their pass, Steven watched in admiration as the six Sparrowhawk fighters launched directly onto their opponent's tails from the undamaged side of the dropship. He knew that the pilots would handle the airborne enemies. But the damage was done.

Without the Union's guns firing into their ranks, the enemy was advancing faster and in larger numbers. Steven locked up an enemy mech, a Marauder IIc, in his sights and watched the crosshairs blaze gold as he pulled the trigger. His gauss rifle thundered as it launched a nickel-ferrous slug int the mech's head, toppling it like a felled tree. Another mech had managed to get in a bit close for comfort, and Steven responded with a volley of SRMs from his MML rack. The missiles impacted the opponent, followed shortly by a smaller volley from Vidia's Thunder Fox. The missiles stripped the armor from the mech's torso, allowing James' Rifleman to fireball the mech. Steven then fried another mech with his lasers while Vidia headcapped another with her gauss. But despite their performance, they still had almost twenty mechs left, and they were being forced back closer and closer to the dropship.

Just then, the Sparrowhawks swooped in on a strafing run, spraying the enemy with a hail of deadly laser fire. Four mechs dropped in the face of the assault as the fighters pulled up and started coming around for another run. Encouraged by the attack, Steven pulled his triggers once more, racking up another kill as a Locust IIc toppled with a useless gyro and went up in flames. Turning to another Locust, Steven launched a missile volley and as greeted with an explosion as the mech's AP gauss rifles overcharged and detonated, blowing the mech's side torsos into shreds as it collapsed on its face. The other were also doing well, already having felled another nine enemies, and the Sparrowhawks claimed another three in their strafing run. They were winning, he could tell, but it was going to be close. The other mechs had already been hit hard, and he himself had taken a few glancing blows. The PPC hit to his right torso got his attention, and he turned to see a Marauder IIc charging him. Immediately Steven fired his gauss, followed by a missile volley and his lasers, dropping the mech not more than twenty yards away from him. The final two mechs tried to charge their position, but were mowed down by a withering barrage from James' Rifleman and Ethan's Prefect.

Steven jumped down from the Osprey, weary and sweating, and ran to the dropship's lower cargo bay. There, he was greeted with the sight of three crewmen injured and the others bruised and scarred, all being tended to by the team's medical staff. Jason looked up at him. "Don't worry, we're all alive. But this ship ain't getting us anywhere now. We're sitting ducks." Steven nodded and sought out Raikan, the unit's intelligence specialist. "Raikan, I need a plan. You got one?" Raikan smiled wanly. "Yeah, but it's a bit desperate…"  
"I don't care, let's hear it."

Steven's comm crackled. "Seems to me like we're being a bit cowardly, Harpy-boy." He sighed at Vidia's smart remark on his nickname. "We don't have much choice, Vidia." And that was the truth. Raikan's plan had been to retreat to an old Blakist fortification to find shelter until they could find an escape route. It wasn't his style to hide away, but Steven and the others didn't have much choice. The rest of the team was loaded onto the truck, and the fighters had flown ahead to find a place to land.  
"Whatever. I just hope you know how to get us off this rock when we're through, smart-aleck."  
"Well, that all depends on how sweet you are during our trip, deary." A few snickers could be heard on the comm as Vidia growled an incomprehensible response in Japanese, despite the growing tension.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing outside the base. Steven could see ample evidence of the attacks Raikan had mentioned - the outside looked like a dump. But entering inside one of the hangars, it was a different story. Despite the outside appearances, the part of the base they had entered was in very good shape. The darkened mech hangar seemed almost like a giant cavern. There were twelve cubicles lined up on either side, and loose wires and tubes dangled from the ceiling girders. Steven and the other warriors parked their mechs facing the door, then proceeded to group together with the other team members.

"So, what do we have to work with, Raikan?" Raikan looked up from his noteputer, the glow from the screen giving his face a somewhat eerie look in the gloom. "Well, the fighters landed on the field and are hidden nearby, so no problems there. What we really need to figure out is what we're going to do now that we've got our hidey-hole." Steven nodded, then turned towards the truck. "Jason, how long will we last on what we grabbed from the ship?" Jason glanced towards him, then called out. "We'll be fine till day after tomorrow. Then we're in for it." Steven turned back to Raikan. "Allright, so our first order of business is extending our food supply. Then we need to find out how to get off this dirtball planet."  
Raikan nodded, eyes transfixed on his noteputer. "Well, according to the information I have here, this base is actually mostly unexplored. When the Blakist forces here collapsed, the base was left untouched by the liberating forces. It's possible that there might be supplies and equipment left behind that could prove useful to us." Steven grimaced. "Even if we did find supplies, I'm not sure I'd want to eat food that old." Raikan grinned at him. "Well, they won't be like gourmet cooking, but at least they should be edible."

Steven sighed and nodded his head. "Allright. Raikan, grap some torches, extra power packs and three survival kits. You, me and Vidia are going to go searching around for anything we can use." As Raikan ran off to collect the goods, Vidia turned on Steven. "Why am I going? I didn't volunteer."  
Steven smiled. "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to draft you instead, won't I." When Vidia pouted, he relented a little bit. "Look, you're the one I trust my back to in a fight. I can depend on you in tight spots. That's why I'm choosing you over anybody else. Okay?" Vidia nodded and accepted the pack and torch that Raikan handed to her. Steven shouldered the load and called over his shoulder. "You're in charge till I get back, Jason. Don't screw up on me."  
"Ditto, ma boy" Jason called after him.  
With that, the trio flicked on their torches and proceeded to enter the dark depths.


	2. Chapter 2

Steven scanned the area with his torch, looking for anything that might be useful. They'd been at this for about two hours now, and they had turned up with nothing. Now they were in a large causeway big enough to hold two mechs side-by-side. Small plumes of dust rose with each footstep, and the group's torches cast eerie, flickering shadows along the walls as they moved. The base had definitely been abandoned for at least twenty years, with wall panels missing, revealing the wiring and structure underneath. The place was massive, causing Steven to wonder how anyone could have missed the construction of such a facility. According to Raikan, the base had been built almost completely underground, often using shafts from an abandoned mining facility to speed up the work and make it less obvious. Still, it seemed pretty far fetched for the construction of this thing to have gone completely unnoticed.

Ensconced in his thoughts, Steven missed Vidia's first comment. He shook his head to clear his mind. "What did you say?" Vidia was standing near the opposite wall, her torch slowly scanning the section in front of her. "I said, I think I found some kind of door." Raikan and Steven both moved to the area Vidia was examining. Raikan was soon deeply interested in the section of wall. "What?" Steven asked, "It looks like a regular roll-up door to me." Raikan huffed in a slightly offended manner and began elaborating on their find. "This isn't just a regular door. It's a high-security model with armor plating and lockdown systems, keycode locks and that sort of stuff."  
"So its a heavily fortified, highly-technological garage door. What could we possibly use it for? Detach it and use it as a flying platform?" Vidia snickered while Raikan heaved an exhasperated sigh. "What I'm getting to is that these doors are not standard. They're specially equipped to a level above that of your average door. These types of doors are only used on entances to high-value assets, such as important hangars or storage areas."

Steven immediately caught on. "So, what we have is a door that is hiding something valuable, possibly supplies or equipment we can use, correct?" Raikan nodded.  
"Great! So how the heck are we supposed to get on the other side?" Raikan's enormous grin dropped. "Well, we can't really blow open the door, the confines of the hall are too tight and we don't have the firepower. And I doubt we can open it even if we had the code, due to the lack of power in this facility." Steven quietly facepalmed. "So, what else can we do?" Raikan tapped his chin and thought for a minute, then started shuffling in his pack. "These doors are tough, and so are the walls around them. However, they almost always include some kind of entrance for personnel so they don't have to open the big door, and that's always the weak point." Pulling out a laser torch, Raikan started fitting a power pack into it. "We should be able to cut through the personnel door pretty easily, all we have to do is find it."

The three of them started scanning the wall for any sign of the door Raikan had mentioned. Steven barely noticed the door's outline, taking a second look before his senses confirmed its presence. "Hey, guys, over here." Raikan was the first to reach the door, looking it over in minute detail. "yep, this is it. Hidden pretty well, too, probably for security reasons. Must be something real valuable behind it." Vidia and Steven stood back and shielded their eyes as Raikan began cutting through the metal, leaving a molten trail in the torch's wake. It took a good two minutes to cut through the door, but once it was done the trio squeezed through the opening and into another large space. The new room was huge, and not even their powerful torches could penetrate very far into the gloom. Almost immediately, Steven could tell that this room was different than the others they had explored so far.

The room was actually - warm. And there was a soft humming emenating from somewhere beyond the darkness. "Guys? You got any idea what's up with this place?" Vidia simply shrugged, but Raikan was thinking hard, by the look on his face. "Ya know, that humming reminds me of a fusion power generator I once worked on. Heat level almost feels right for a room that's been operating one inside for a while, too." Steven turned and started moving along the wall to his right, scanning it with the beam from his torch. Raikan and Vidia followed, perplexed. "Whatcha lookin for, Steven?" Steven glanced at Vidia, then turned back to the wall. "If Raikan is right about that generator, if we can find the control panel it's possible that we may be able to turn on the lights in here." Steven stopped in front of a yellow metal box near a trussed support beam. "I think we have it."

Opening the box, Steven shone his torch inside and fumbled around with several switches before finding the right one. Almost instantly, lights started popping on one after the other, brginning at the far end of the room and progressing towards them. "There," Steven said, turning around. "Now let's see what we've fou-" His voice cut off mid-sentence as he, Vidia nad Raikan stared in wonder at what lay in front of them. There, in the characteristic blue-gray paint of a Blakist vessel, was a sleek Assault Triumph dropship in all its glory. "Good lord in heaven," Steven mumbled, "I think we might have just found our ticket out of here."


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken perhaps three, maybe four hours to get back to the rest of the team and inform them of the find, then move the unit further into the base. Most of that time had been spent hitching up the fighters to the truck and towing them one at a time to the hallway outside of the dropship hangar. Though there had been some complaints about moving everything down to the hall, Steven had managed to convince them that it was necessary for them to be able to load up as quickly as possible if the dropship proved to be in operating condition. Besides, the hallway was more defensible than the hangar, which could be easily discovered by an enemy. That had necessitated moving the fighters, because leaving them outside was asking for trouble. But now it was starting to look like it had all been worth it. The dropship wasn't fully loaded, but it did have enough supplies onboard for a two day jaunt, plus what they had on hand. It also had a full load of ammunition. _Thank heaven for that_, Steven thought. Jason and the dropship crew had been scrambling all over the dropship, checking to see if it was still usable. And aside from the fact that it was a tad dusty, it was in almost pristine shape. Even though one of the PPCs was offline due to a technical malfunction, that wasn't too much of a problem, as they weren't planning on fighting anyways. Now all they really needed to do was find a way to open the door to the hallway so they could start loading everything on board and get the hell out of dodge.

Steven jumped off the crate he'd been sitting on as Jason strode up to him. "Looks like all systems are go on the ship, sir. I'd say we could blast outta here whenever we're ready." Steven sighed and nodded. "Good. I'm starting to get more and more antsy the longer we stay." He turned and walked over to where Raikan and one of the techies were working on trying to find a way to open the door. "Any luck?" Raikan shook his head. "That door is jammed shut and doesn't wanna open for us. It should be powered by the generator in here, but it just won't respond. It doesn't make sense to me." Steven wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow. "Well, we need to get ourselves loaded soon. Jason says the Triumph will work, but we can't just leave behind all of our equipment." Raikan nodded his affirmative. "You know, this is a roll-up door, right?" Raikan was puzzled by the question, but nodded. "Then why can't we just cut open the bottom of the tracks and let the door roll down onto the floor with its own weight?" Raikan's face brightened. "ya know, that idea isn't half bad. It just might work. All we need is a torch of some kind for cutting out the bottom section and a way to start the door on its way." He scratched his head. "We could have one of the mechs slide the first segment out to start the door moving, but where are we going to get a cutting torch that big? It'll have to be a mech-grade tool, and we don't have one on any of our units."

Steven thought about it for a minute, then spoke. Maybe we could use the Snub-Nose on Ethan's prefect. It doesn't have the same backblast as a regular PPC, so it would work better out in the hall." Raikan shrugged. "Should work. Just needs to have some room is all."

The operation was ridiculously easy. While the everybody else stood back and wore ear protection, Ethan blasted at the lower corners of the walls on either side of the door. A few shots to each section, and Catherine's Griffin was able to reach in and delicately bend the door's rails outwards before giving it a gentle tug. In five seconds flat the twenty-ton ferro-steel door was on the hallway floor, and even the most generous ear protection left most paeople with ringing ears. Then it was simply a matter of loading everything into the Triumph and making final preperations for launch.

"Raikan, what time is it?" Raikan checked his watch. "About 11:30 PM, sir." Steven nodded at Raikan and strapped himself in as Raikan did the same. "Good. Extra cover against enemy fighters and flak." He keyed his comm as he checked his straps one last time. "We're set to go, Jason. Open those launch doors and get us out of here."  
"Righto! Let's saddle up and ride on outta here!"  
"Just don't kill us, okay, old man?"  
Jason didn't reply to Steven's remark, concentrating on getting ready to launch the minute he had the chance. "All systems green, sir, engines now online," one of the techies called from his station. The doors slowly slid open, and Jason braced himself for the launch. Once the doors were open just enough, he gave his order. "Punch it boys! full throttle and don't you skimp on me!" Engines spouting trails of flame, the Triumph started moving with a jerk and rocketed out of the hangar into open air. Pulling back on the control column, Jason yanked the bird up and shot into space. Now came the hard part.

The launch had not gone unnoticed, and already three assault jumpships were moving on their trajectory. Jason changed his heading, watching as the dropships changed their course for intercept. Finally, just as the first enemy fired off a few ranging shots, Jason jerked the Triumph onto another course. The dropships, unable to follow, could only watch as their prey streaked past their tails and into open space. Jason knew that they would probably be pursued, and only hoped that they could get to the jump point ahead of their enemies. He and everyone else on board fervently prayed that they could find a jumpship willing to take them back to Arc-Royal once they got there.


	4. Chapter 4

The team had made it past the warships ringing the planet, but now they had to deal with pursuing aerospace fighters that were gaining quickly. "Looks like twenty of 'em, sir." One of the crewmen called to Jason. Steven, who had taken the liberty of moving up to the cockpit and strapping into the copilot's seat on Jason's right after launch, frowned at the readout. "That's not a regular flight path, either. See? They're in two deltas of ten." Jason nodded, having noticed that fact as well. "Which means they're probably Clan fighters. All hands, prepare for combat!" Jason concentrated on piloting while Steven and several others started working the controls in front of them. "I call starboard battery," Steven called. "Port and Rear batteries online, sir." Jason grinned. "Then let's give 'em a bit of a surprise, shall we?"

As the fighters closed within range, Jason flipped the Triumph to starboard without warning. Steven was already ahead of the game, and had lined up three shots on the fighters before the turn was complete. Blasting with perfect aim at the startled pilots, Steven lanced the three bogies with the lasers before blasting them with the autocannons. Two fighters exploded in fireballs, while the third split in half from the impact. As the fighters drew nearer, they began evasive manuevers to avoid a collision. Switching to cluster rounds, Steven lined up his guns. "Let fly!" he whooped, pulling the trigger and sending a shower of deadly hail into the scattering enemies. "fifteen flyin', one winged, lining up." called the portside gunner. Several blasts from the autocannon's cluster rounds echoed and four more went dead before the lasers blasted another.

Now that the enemy was beyond them, Jason pulled a sharp left turn and spun the dropship's nose around. "Bingo," he muttered, and pulled the trigger. Immediatly, the six PPCs roared and devastated two fighters flying close together. A round from the LRM racks pasted another five. One fighter suddenly made a head on charge, guns blazing. Jason immediately blasted it, but one of the pieces rocketed forward and smashed into one of the portside LRMs. Instantly, a small explosion rocked the ship as the ammunition in the rack detonated, throwing everybody into their harnesses harder than they would have liked.

Steven checked the wire readout. "Yellows and reds in the portside area, Jason, might wanna keep 'em off a that side." Jason growled and threw the bird around so that Steven had another shot at the four fighters remaining, who were now getting bolder with their opponent injured. Steven fireballed two with the lasers and finished off the last pair with clusters from the cannons. Everyone immediately relaxed in their seats as Jason turned once again for the jump point. "Ya know, that shootin' there was pretty good for a mech jock, sir." Steven turned to see one of the more grizzled dropship crewmen - the one Jason had called Jim - grinning at him from the port side console. Steven grinned back as he replied, "Well, I guess the old man here never told ya that I actually trained up as an ASF pilot, did he?" Jim looked astonished. "That true, sir?" Jason laughed. "Yep. Seemed silly to me at the time, but he's saved our skins several times with that training. Used to make fun of 'im for it, but I don't mention it much since the first time he got us out of a tight spot." Jim grinned at Steven again. "Well, I guess I feel pretty good 'bout that. At least our CO appreciates what it takes to do the job we do. Now I feel way more at home with this unit." Steven chuckled. "Well, let's make it outta this mess first, then we'll pat our backs. Beers are on me, boys." Several loud whoops echoed in the cockpit at the CO's generousity.

Approaching the jump point, Steven and Jason were welcomed with the sight of a Scout-class jumpship. Even better, it was in Lyran colors. "Well, at least there's no Robe markings on this thing," Steven joked. Jason and the others laughed before Jason hailed the vessel. "This is the Sturmoviks Mercenary unit, reporting to Scout-class warship. Mind if we hitch a lift out of here?" The radio speaker crackled for a minute before a response came. "Sturmoviks unit, this is Captain Jacob Keyston of the LAS Nachtjager speaking, Lyran Alliance Armed Forces Navy. Please state your business in the area." Steven keyed the radio. "We were hired to provide security for a mining complex on Tarnessa by the investor. We just escaped from unknown invading forces that were making plantfall when we evacuated. Other than that, were currently looking for transport to Arc-Royal, or at least out of system." Steven leaned back in his seat as the ship's commander replied. "Right. We were sent to see what we could find out about the communications blackout. We assume that you have sensory feeds on these forces?"  
"That's correct, we have quite a bit from our engagement with their ASF forces."  
"Very well. You are welcome to dock your ship with us, we will be taking you to Arc-Royal straightaway. Any data you can yield as to this situation will be greatly appreciated."  
"No problem, sir, we'll be happy to help you out. Docking our ship now." Steven nodded to Jason, who deftly manuevered the Triumph into position and locked them into place on the larger vessel. As the Scout made its K-F jump, the entire team could finally relax for a while.


	5. Chapter 5

_Feels good to finally be back,_ Steven thought. Jason was just setting down the Triumph inside their assigned hangar, and Steven was feeling more at ease than he had been in some time. As he felt the gentle thump of the landing gear touching down, he unstrapped himself from the copilots seat and stretched his tired muscles. Walking towards the boarding hatch, the door opened with a hiss of air and Steven stepped out into the hangar bay, followed closely by the rest of his team members. "So what are we doin' now, boss?" Steven looked over at Kiva, her sandy-red hair in a disheveled mess. "Well, I'm going to head over to the Warrior Hall and file our report with the employer, then we're going to meet at the checkpoint in about an hour and a half to decide what to do next." The team slowly muttered agreements, then filed though the check-in and out into the streets of Old Connaught.

Steven grinned inwardly. Old Connaught's buildings were definitely modern, but the style wouldn't have looked out of place in nineteenth-century Germany if made with wattle and daub construction. In fact, several houses even replicated the look of those old methods. While most of the team turned and headed towards the town to find something to do, Steven turned and headed for the Warriors Hall, followed by Vidia. "You don't have to come, ya know." Vidia smiled. "Yeah, I know, but you ought at least have someone their to get you out of trouble." Steven grinned back, but was too tired from their ordeal to respond in kind. Vidia recognized this and simply walked beside him in silence. Once or twice he glanced over at her. Vidia was not a typical female, that was for sure. She was skinny and lanky, only about an inch or two below Steven's height of six foot two. Her long black hair was tied up in a ponytail reaching down to just above her knees, making him wonder how she even stood wearing it that long. Her custom jumpsuit left her arms bare, accentuating their leanness. A short, dark green skirt fell down to calf, rising on each side to her hip to allow maximum flexibility. The pants were formfitting, again accentuating her slim proportions, and had a stripe down each side. All in all, she was extremely beautiful, but her attitude was more than a bit pricklish when someone tried to hit on her. Matter of fact, the only person who she didn't seem to start doing that to was him.

Before he could ponder on that thought further, the two of them reached the doors to the hall. Steven opened the door for Vidia as they entered, then stepped in behind her. The two of them proceeded through the crowd towards one of the terminals they could use to contact their employer. Doing so, they remained completely unaware of the Kell Hound officer who was following them. Once they reached the terminal, Steven keyed the contact number, grateful for the fact that the noise of the crowd outside was sealed out by the room's walls. The link crackled for a minute before coming online with a voice from the other end. "This is the office of Bellexar Mining Corporation, how may I help you?" Steven rolled his eyes. Great. A secretary. "Yes, this is Steven McEvedy, the commander of the Sturmoviks Mercenary unit. I'd like to speak with Ulrich Branok, please."  
"Very well, please hold while I see if he is available, sir." Steven waited for a minute, listening to the connection hiss, until a new voice came over the line. "This is Ulrich Branok, I presume this is Commander Steven McEvedy speaking?"  
"Yes, sir." Steven replied. "We've just arrived on Arc-Royal and I'm reporting in on the job you hired us for."  
"I thought you weren't getting back for another day."  
"Yes, sir. I was going to explain that."  
"Let's hear it then."  
Steven cleared his throat. "Well, sir, we were doing the job just like you asked us, but yesterday we were caught by surprise when a planetary assault was launched by unknown forces, although they were probably clanners from what we saw. We had no choice but to retreat in the face of such an assault, so I deeply apologize for our failure in completing the contract."  
Ulrich humphed. "Well, I do sympathize for your situation. However, I just can't pay you when the contract was left unfulfilled.  
"I understand, sir."  
"You did do your job well while there, however, so I believe I can at least pay you half for that."  
"Thank you, sir."  
"Yes. Well, I have to be going. Goodbye."

The link went silent and Steven shut it off. He and Vidia proceeded to the employment office and picked up the money. Exiting the building, the two of them made for the checkpoint to meet their team mates, feeling grateful for the pay they did have.

As a matter of fact, the team's "Checkpoint" as they called it was the Admiral's Head, a tavern run by a friend of theirs. The other members were already seated, and Donald MacClean, the bartender, waved Steven over to their table. "Hey, me bucko, have a seat. Get some beer in that stomach of yours." Steven grinned. "It's Scottish Blend, I presume?" Donald scoffed. "Course! Can't get hardly anybody else to drink the stuff sides you an me. So let's keep up the tradition of our Scot ancestry, eh?" Steven downed some of the amber liquid, savoring the slight hickory taste of the brew as it slid down his throat. "Well, what's we doin next, eh?" Steven glanced at Jason. "Well, we received half pay, so we'll hand that out to everybody when we get the chance. But for now, what are we going to do with that Triumph we've got?" Donald's eyes widened. "You got a Triumph on your run?"  
"Assault Triumph, actually," Vidia corrected him. "Although it did get a bit bashed."  
"So what?" Donald replied. "Those things are rare, have good firepower, and have plenty of room on 'em. You'll probably be movin' up the social merc ranks here when word gets out you've got one." Steven chuckled. "Yes, that's true. We should have enough to repair the damage. After that, we'll be a bit tight on funds till our next run.  
"By the way, whadda we gonna name the ship?" All eyes turned to Jason. "Well," Steven rambled, "how about the Condor?"  
"I like it!" Jason replied. "Anyone for the name Condor, raise yer hand!" All hands were in the air. "that settles it, then," Jason grinned. "Well, I'll see if I can find the parts we need."  
"Don't forget to get some paint, old man. I want to have that thing in our unit colors by next mission." Steven called after him.  
"Will do, ma lad!" Jason gave a slight wave and left the tavern, leaving the rest of the team to carry out a little job-well-done celebration.


	6. Chapter 6

Steven sat back in his chair and chewed on his pencil. He'd been adding up the figures that Kallen, the team's XO, had given him. The damage to the Condor had been light, so it hadn't cost too much to repair it. The real struggle had been finding parts they could use. Jason and the crew were working on getting the ship painted in the unit's blue and yellow parade scheme, and the work had been going well when Steven had checked in on them. The pay hadn't been extremely generous, but they could squeak by on it. The good thing was that they had finally received the equipment they had orderd a few weeks prior. Consisting of a trio of J-27 ammo carriers, a Jifty repair vehicle and four flatbeds, they at least had some decent support for their next mission. They would have enough money to hire crews for them, but only just. Kallen had already started selling off their stockpile of parts for the Union so that they could replace them with parts for the Condor, and so far sales had been going well. Other than that, though, things were going to be very tight until they could find an employer.

* * *

Steven left the Warriors Hall and dialed Jason's number on his phone. "Hey, what's up, boyo?"  
"We got a new mission. Assemble the team at the dropship for briefing, okay?"  
"Got it, will do."  
The line went dead as Jason hung up to call the other members. Steven pocketed the phone and looked up at the clear sky. Something told him that they were going to be entering a storm soon - and that they wouldn't be coming out of it unscathed.

"So let me get this straight," Vidia asked. "We're supposed to infiltrate Tarnessa, find out what exactly is going on there, and then then try to sabotage those goings-on for about a month?" Steven rubbed his eyes. "That's correct. We've been hired by the LCAF to scout it out for them. Once the Nachtjager drops us off at the jump point, we'll be heading in and on our own. They can't spare any forces to accompany us at the moment, so we'll be stuck until our month is up." Vidia looked at her mission papers again. "Okay, so where are we inserting ourselves?" Steven coughed. "Raikan has pinpointed several promising locations, including one that would give us access to the Blakist fort we hid in earlier if it hasn't been occupied. Other then that, we're going to have to fly this mission by the seat of our pants." Vidia groaned inwardly as the team dismissed to get some rest. This was going to be - well, not good.

Steven and Jason quietly piloted the Condor into the system, carefully monitoring their sensors for any sign of opposition. So far, none. "Alright, Jason, bring us in." Steven watched silently as Jason started the Condor into the planet's atmosphere, praying fervently that they wouldn't be discovered. By the time Jason leveled off into a flight path heading for the LZ, he was starting to hope that they would get in unnoticed. But his hopes were shattered when two laser blasts impacted the Condor's left wing. "Shite! How many?"  
"Looks like a full star, sir," Jim called back.  
"Allright. Jason, keep on course, but change the LZ." Clicking the comm on, Steven called over the intercom. "All pilots, man those ASFs! Get out there and blast those things! ASAP!" Already Jim had fired off a few laser shots, but they were hasty and unaimed. They did, however, cause the fighters to back off slightly. That was a good thing, since the team's six Sparrowhawks blasted out of the side door at that moment, arcing their paths towards the attackers. "Alpha-Sparrow, make contact when done, over and out."  
"Roger that, sir. Alpha-Sparrow out." Steven unbuckled his harness and started moving towards the mech bay. They would need to be ready to hot-drop if their LZ was occupied.

Steven sat in the cockpit of his Osprey and listened to the report from Jason. "Enemies ahead at the LZ, no free cake today. Get ready to drop, people." Steven tightened his harness and placed his hands on the sidesticks. This was gonna be rough. "On my mark. Three - two - one - now!" The floor beneath Steven opened, dropping his mech into the slipstream below. Firing the drop-jets, he cushioned the fall but not by much due to the low altitude. As soon as he touched ground, he jettisoned the jets and started moving forwards, gratified to see that Vidia had landed safely nearby and was just behind him. James' Rifleman landed hard, but otherwise no damage. Kiva nd her Nyx landed fine, but what came next was not good. "Cap, we got one down, Busby's in the dirt." _Damn._ There went the other half of their scouting force. "Right, keep him covered, we're on our way." With that, Steven kicked the Osprey into high gear and chargedthrough the treeline seperating the groups. Almost immediately he recognized a pair of Shadowcat IIs, followed by a Marauder IIc and a pair of Cougars. He didn't even have to tell his teamates to shoot, they knew instinctively. The crack from Vidia's gauss broke the still morning air, followed by the scream and flash of James' lasers. Vidia's round struck the HAG on one of the Shadowcats, while the Rifleman struck home on the Marauder. Steven lined up a shot at the second Shadowcat and let loose with his gauss, drilling a hole right through the enemy's cockpit. But the shadowcat's HAG went off as it fell, drilling a round straight into the Osprey's left leg. Warnings immediately blared in the cockpit before Steven killed them. The readout showed almost all of the leg's armor gone, but at least the round hadn't hit anything extremely critical. _Shite. I'm getting toasted before we even get through one day._

What was a problem was that the other Shadowcat turned its guns on him, probably hoping for an easy kill. _Like I'm gonna go down that easy, buddy,_ Steven thought. He lined up a shot and punched his lasers into the cat's HAG, setting off the energy in the magnets like a bomb. The explosion ripped the Shadowcat's torso to shreds and sent a spray of debris into the Cougar, toppling it like a ten pin. The Marauder immediately turned and fired its lasers at him, and Steven just barely dodged them in time. James lanced a his lasers across the Marauders torso, but it only left a glowing gash with molten metal dripping off it. Then Ethan punched the sucker in the back with his PPC and sent it sprawling. "Thank you for that, I owe you one, Ethan."  
"No prob. Can't resist a shot like that anyways, cap."  
Steven grimaced and watched as Kat lifted Buzzy up into the Griffin's cockpit. "Hey, this might give us some nice salvage, sir." Steven knew Kiva was right, but he knew that there wouldn't be enough time to get the Jifty here from the LZ before follow on forces arrived. "No time to get it the old-fashioned way, girl, we'll have to just drag what we can with us." Ethan grabbed the Shadowcat that had Steven had headcapped by the leg while Kat and Franz each took hold of one of the Marauder's legs. Steven brought up the rear, nursing his Osprey's damaged leg. So far, the salvage was looking like the only bright spot for the day, and he wondered if his team was going to make it out of this cruddy mission in one piece.


	7. Chapter 7

Steven was relieved when they reached the Condor, since his mech was going to need quite a bit of work on its leg. As the others dragged the two clan mechs into the cargo bay, Steven parked the Osprey in its cubicle and stepped out. As soon as everyone had locked their mechs into place, Jason fired up the Condor's engines and rocketed up after a short takeoff run. There was no point in staying here now, it was too open and the deep ruts left from the mechs they'd dragged to the ship were a dead giveaway to their position. Steven had already determined that their best bet was the old fort they'd used last time, since it was relatively inconspicuous, sheltered and out of the way. Besides, if they got lucky, they might be able to find some useful materials inside. After all, they had found the Condor, hadn't they?

Steven was gratified when they touched down on a small field outside the base without any fuss. The Sparrowhawks had suffered little damage, though they did have a few scars in need of patching. Steven was gratified at how fast the techs were progressing with the Osprey. Perhaps another twenty minutes and it'd be combat fit once more. But for now he had to concentrate on getting his team set up in their new temporary home. "Raikan, what can you give me about our arrangements?" Raikan looked to his noteputer. "Well, their should be a dropship hangar that we can access from inside the base, so we can at least cover the Condor. The mechs can stay in the main bay ahead of us, since it won't be conspicuous and will give them easy access to the entrance. The vehicles can go there, too, and the ASFs we can park under the trees and cover with camouflage nets."  
"Alright, so we just need to get the Condor down into its hangar and we should be set to start operating."  
"already working on it, sir. We've got the Condor moving into the bay now and we're setting up a power generator to provide power for all our equipment while we're here."  
"great. Now, get everybody together, I have some plans we need to discuss."

The team had set up an impromptu briefing session in the mech bay by using a table and a paper map of the area combined with a holo-map slate. Steven quickly outlined his plan of action. "What we appear to have is a large number of Clan Jade Falcon second-line troops stationed here, so that means that the main force has moved ahead for other conquests. So we have the chance to really hit these guys before they really understand what's going on. We have limited supplies and our tech support is minimal right now, so we have to rely a lot on salvage and tactics to win out here. What I'm thinking is to start off by making several scouting sorties to locate priority targets like supply depots, communication lines and the like. Then we strike out and raid the supply depots first, since they'll be the most lightly guarded. Raiding the supply posts will allow us to collect a stockpile of supplies and other equipment we can put to use in our coming campaign. This first stage is crucial, since we don't have enough materials as is to last for an extended time period against these guys. Once we have our stockpile, we start striking at their military forces to start wearing them down and keep them on edge." Franz, pilot of the Hatchetman, raised his hand. "Won't they be able to pinpoint our location by the proximity of the raids to our base?" Steven smiled. "Throughout this run, we'll be striking at seemingly random locations all over the map, which will give the appearance of some kind of local resistance or the like. It will also preclude the possibility of their pinpointing us." Steven looked around at the assembled group. "Raikan has already assembled a list of suitable targets, and I've decided on one to strike. It's a supply depot about fifty-six clicks south of us, and it's guarded only by a company of foot infantry and a few light vehicles. My lance will be going in to take the depot while Ethan's will be acting as reserve in case anything goes wrong. We'll be taking the Jifty and the flatbeds, as well as one of the J-27s so we can carry as much as possible. Any questions?" There were none. "Allright, people, let's move it!"

Steven watched from behind the ridgeline as the guards went on their patrols. "Alright, the point here is to use as little weapons fire as possible. That'll risk destroying the depot, so do your best to just stomp the bad guys rather than shoot 'em, okay?" Three affirmatives confirmed the command. "Alright, let's give these boys a bit of a scare, shall we?" Steven grinned devilishly as he slammed the pedals and rocketed into the air above the ridge. He was delighted to see the infantry below him freeze for a few moments, awe struck by the leaping Osprey, then turn and scatter every which way. Steven went for the vehicles, since the troopers weren't going to do much anyway. He promptly squished two, then used his small laser to fry a third trying to escape the depot. Vidia's Thunder Fox almost looked like a prancing show horse as she proceeded to stamp any godforsaken troopers she could reach into the dirt. Steven turned and watched as the rest of the guards ran like jackrabbits to escape the carnage. "Alright, bring in the trucks, boys." The six vehicles, escorted by James' Rifleman, quickly crested the ridge and were soon at the depot, their crews hustling to load the vehicles to the limit with anything useful. The Jifty simply hoisted entire containers into its bay before loading its lift hoists to their limit. It took a good half hour to load everything, but once it was done they immediately turned and started heading for the safety of their base. Steven and the others formed a protective ring around the vehicles, with Steven bringing up the rear and scanning for any hostiles that might try to sneak up and take them by surprise.

They had made it about halfway to the base when Steven's sensors picked up the star of mechs moving in on them. "Lock and load, people, we got hostiles! Ethan, you're responsible for the cargo, don't let me down!" As the vehicles moved out of sight and towards the safety of Ethan's one-short lance, Steven and the others moved towards the enemy. "Alpha-bravo, two-one-three, form up." The order had been calculated to place the most firepower on target, with Kiva darting in and out with her Nyx for opportune shots and James providing medium range firepower against the enemies. The maneuver placed Kiva on the left and James on the right, with Vidia and Steven bringing up the rear to provide fire support with their long range weaponry. And the maneuver played perfectly, since the enemy had to pass through a gap between two ridges, which placed them into a crossfire zone. The first mech to try and break in was another Marauder IIc. Steven watched with satisfaction as James proceeded to saw off the enemy's arms before Kiva put a pair of lasers through the head. The second mech, also a Marauder, managed to get off a shot with its left PPC before Steven fired his gauss rifle. The round sliced into the armor on the left torso left a crushed in section of armor that he then exploited by vaping it with his lasers as the mech moved forward, punching through the armor and striking the engine. The Marauder collapsed on its back as the others jumped over the ridge on either side. _Shite. Forgot they could that._ Cursing his own stupidity, Steven turned on the two to his right and pulled the trigger. Immediately his gauss let out a crack and the lead Marauder's cockpit crumpled inwards. The second Marauder fired both of its arm-mounted PPCs, striking Steven's left torso and just barely missing the Osprey's left leg. _What is up with these guys aiming for my left leg?_ Steven responded with his lasers, searing his enemy's frontal armor. James twisted his Rifleman's upper torso and fired at the Marauder, searing its chest once again and causing it to stagger backwards. But it didn't go down. _Alright, if you wanna play that way, I'll make it so you have to fall._ Steven once again fired his gauss, taking out the Marauder's knee and sending it toppling over on its left. "Oh yeah, now I'm gonna have some fun!" Steven hit the jump jets and dropped on top the Marauder like his namesake would when swooping in on its prey. Even though the mech was heavier than the Osprey, it still managed to buckle the weakened armor beneath it. Steven turned around to see too the other Marauder - and just barely missed being headcapped by a PPC blast. "Oy!" Steven fired his gauss at the errant wannabe headcapper, but his shot missed and struck the ridge behind. Vidia launched a volley from her SRM right into the damaged torso, however, and the explosions ripped through it. The mech stumbled backwards and fell on its back with a useless gyro. Steven smiled. "Alright, we've had our fun. Now let's get back to base and see what we got outta that raid, shall we?"


	8. Chapter 8

So far, things were looking up. The raid had supplied them with plenty of missiles, though they hadn't been able to grab any gauss ammunition. They had also gotten their hands on some spare mech components and some armor plating. The salvage from the hot drop had been the best. The Shadowcat II was pristine, since the only damage to it was Steven's head shot. The mech had been stripped down by the techs, since they were after the parts rather than the whole mech. They'd salvaged the HAG and its ammo, as well as both missile racks and their ammo, along with the laser, jump jets, heat sinks, actuators, the engine and the armor and structure. The Marauder had yielded its entire complement of PPCs and lasers, as well as more jump jets and heat sinks. The engine was shot, but the salvage was still extremely useful, considering that Kallen had managed to negotiate full salvage rights for the team. Steven was glad he had hired her.

Overall, the first mission had been a success, despite the fact that they had lost Busby's Spider in the hot drop. According to the witnesses, one of the Shadowcats had hit the mech while it was dropping and thrown it out of control, which had caused it to crash. On reflection, however, the Spider wouldn't have been a huge bonus anyways, since its light armament and lack of advanced sensors would not help it in the recon role they had planned for it. And all considering, the loss had been more than made up for by the salvage they'd gotten from that first fight. Keep things up like this, and they could probably have a stock of clan-spec parts before their time was through. Now that was a nice thought.

Two days had passed since the unit had started operating, and Steven had determined that the unit had built up a suitable supply of equipment from their raids to start concentrating on the second phase of the plan. Today, they were going to start harassing the enemy troops, beginning a guerilla-style campaign that was well suited to them, especially since the majority of their equipment used energy weapons. In fact, the only weapons they had that were dependent on ammunition stocks were the Osprey's gauss rifle and missile rack, the Hatchetman's missile rack and the Thunder Fox's light gauss and missiles. So far, they had had very little need to use their ordnance carriers in their intended role, so they had been delegated to moving cargo instead.

But that was beside the point. Right now, Steven had gathered the everyone's mechs into a hilly region and organized them for an ambush. James and Ethan had taken up station near the most convenient entrance to the valley in order to make use of their short-range PPCs. Franz and Catherine had positioned their mechs further away from the entrance to provide support for the other two while taking out anyone who got past the first barrage. Steven and Vidia, the only ones who had mechs carrying long range guns, had moved onto a wooded hill overlooking the engagement area, giving them a prime location to snipe from that also gave them excellent cover to hide in. The other mechs had hidden themselves in the trees surrounding the grassy area that they planned on catching their prey in, waiting to pop out and start blasting. Steven had sent Kiva out to find an enemy force and lure them into the trap, since she was piloting the fastest unit. All she was to do was find a unit, draw their attention, then lead them into the trap they had set. Things were going well, and Kiva had reported that she was already leading two stars of mechs to them. According to her she had a two Onagers and a trio of Marauders accompanied by a star of Cougars.

Peering into the distance, he finally spotted Kiva and their prey coming towards the valley entrance. "Here they come, people, let's try and get some salvage." Steven watched closely as Kiva dashed into the valley, a few clouds of dust rising from rounds fired by the Onagers. The enemy charged in after her, giving no thought to anything else. Perfect. "Alright, let's hit 'em hard!" James and Ethan popped out of their hiding places and fired their guns into the backs of the Onagers, punching through the weak armor and destroying the engines inside. As the two of them toppled, the Marauders turned to engage the new threat, exposing their backsides to Franz and Kat, who immediately repeated the performance on two of their opponents. Kiva had turned around and engaged the Cougars, headcapping one and destroying the laser on another one. "Fairy, give Kiva a hand. I'm going after the big one."  
"Roger that." Vidia immediately turned and blasted the head off of one of the Cougars, while Kiva managed to destroy the damaged one with a well placed hit to the gyro. Steven focused his sights on the Marauder, which was now backing up to get its front to its opponents, unaware of his presence. Steven grinned devilishly as the crosshairs burned gold and pulled the trigger. The nickel-ferrous round rocketed out of the barrel on the Osprey's back, flying into the Marauder's thinly armored rear and punching through it. The Marauder paused briefly, almost as if waiting for something, then exploded in a thirty meter fireball as its damaged engine exploded. "Woo! nice job, guys. Let's get this gathered up." Steven called the Jifty out of its hiding place and directed it to the Cougars to salvage what it could. Kat, Franz and Ethan descended on the Onagers. Ethan pulled off one of the massive guns while Franz and Kat lifted the third one between them. The Jifty managed to load a few lasers from the Cougars, but that was really all that it could salvage from them. The crew headed over to the Onagers and proceeded to load the ammunition remaining in them into the vehicle before moving to the Marauders and stripping off a pair of PPCs from one of them. By the time the crew had finished loading the Jifty, a good half hour had passed. "We're fully loaded and ready to go, sir."  
"Right. Let's get the hell out of dodge before more of these guys show up to find out what happened to their buddies."  
"Roger that." The team quickly regrouped and exited the valley, heading as fast as they could to a warm meal and some well desrved rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Steven was pleased at how the mission had been going so far. They had been here for about two weeks and they had suffered minimal losses. True, three of the flatbeds had been lost when the team was caught off guard by a Falcon recon unit, but they were not dire losses. And despite combat damage to their equipment, they were still capable of holding out for the next two weeks before making their exit. And the salvage had been amazing. They'd collected several HAGs of various calibers and twenty tons of ammo for them, along with a healthy supply of clan PPCs, lasers and the like. They had even gotten enough double heat sinks to re-equip their entire force with them if they wanted, plus some extra. They'd already put some of their spoils to use, refitting Ethan's prefect with an ER PPC in place of the original heavy model after it had been destroyed in their last engagement. And Kiva's Nyx had had it's entire laser complement replaced with clan versions. James and Franz had opted to keep their mechs unmodified for now, while Kat had replaced the Griffin's laser with a clan version. Vidia had switched out her Thunder Fox's lasers and missile rack with clan models, but had kept the light gauss. Steven had switched his original gauss rifle for a clan version they had found and had used the extra space to put in more ammunition for the gun. He'd also switched his lasers for clan models. More extensive modifications to the unit's equipment would have to wait until they had gotten back to Arc-Royal and had more time available, but the current upgrades had greatly increased their offensive potential. And he had the perfect way to put it to use.

The team was once again gathered in one of their makeshift briefing sessions, listening attentively as Steven outlined his new plan of action. "We've seriously increased our firepower with all of our salvaged goods, so I've decided to put it to use. Over the next two weeks, we'll be making strikes that will allow us to bring in more salvage. However, they are now second priority. Now we're going to be attacking their important areas, such as vehicle and mech facilities and command posts. We're in the final stage of the plan, and that means we've got to start hitting them hard. I've already pinpointed our targets for this phase. The final target is going to be the hardest, since we'll need to buy time for our technicians to get in and set up a series of demolition charges. The point isn't to do damage with them, just place them so that when we set them off wirelessly, the Falcons will think that we're moving on the facility. That will provide a distraction while we make our getaway. As such, it is the furthest target from our position. That will make insertion and extraction of our forces difficult, since the enemy has the greatest chance to intercept us both ways. These strikes will be utilizing our fighters as well to provide maximum firepower for our attacks. The mission file you've gone over now holds the details for our first strike. Any questions?" Franz's hand went up. "Aren't we risking a mass retaliation this way, sir?"  
"Yes, we are running that risk. However, I've only outlined four targets, two per week, in order to minimize that risk. The wide spread of the targets is also calculated to lower that chance as well, but we need to pull this part off in order to succeed, since it will lead to the reaction we want when we start the diversion and make our exit from the system." With that, Steven concluded the session. "Let's get moving, folks! Time's waisting."

Steven noted that the base, a mech compound built on a flat plain, was not a particularly desireable target to attack since it left the attackers visible for miles. But he and Jason had decided to hot-drop their mechs from the Condor to make the strike as swift as possible. All of them were ready to launch and get the strike over with as they approached their drop point, which would put them close to the reactor so they could shut it down and hopefully lock the enemy mechs in their hangars for a short period. "Everyone get ready, comin' up on the DZ." Steven placed his hands on the sticks once again and prepared himself for the drop ahead. "Three - two - one - drop!" Steven felt his heart leap into his throat as his mech dropped from beneath the Condor, risking a glance to the right and seeing Vidia falling about ten meters away. Instinctivey he fired the drop-jets and brought the Osprey down with a gentle bump. He waited for the others to land, then started moving towards the reactor as his team formed up behind him. Once he saw the plain white structure, he put it in his crosshairs and fired his gauss at the building, followed by Vidia's rifle and Ethan's PPC. The concentrated impact fractured the reinforced ferrocrete, crushing the wall inwards, but not breaking through. Steven fired again, and this time the wall crumpled. The reactor, now exposed and damaged, quickly overheated and sent a plume of fire into the sky. The heat wave washed over the team, but thankfully didn't shut down their rides. Steven turned from the reactor and dashed to the ammo bunkers whith Vidia while the others went to their assigned targets. Just then, Jason screamed over the facility, flanked by the fighters, and started the first of his strafing runs, shredding the first hangar to bits and destroying anything it contained. The fighters picked out vehicles and started shooting them up on their own runs. Steven pulled his gaze from the sight overhead and began pounding into the binkers ahead of him. Vidia followed suit, blasting a hole through the wall as Steven's gauss ripped into the building. Almost immediately the ammunition stored inside went off, sending flames showering out like a giant roman candle. The first blast was followed by a second, then a third, as the other bunkers began detonating from the blast of their neighbors. Steven turned and saw that Jason had destroyed another two hangars, leaving only one left. Once it was gone, their job was done. But a stream of lasers impacting the ground next to him provided for a nasty wake up call. As the fighter streaked past, Steven lined it up and fired at it. The craft jinked, but the slug clipped the left wing in half and sent it into the dirt, where it exploded in a brilliant flash. Steven could see the Sparrowhawks engaging the new arrivals while Jason made his last run on the compound, but they needed to finish this mission fast. "Everyone, get moving for the pickup zone! We're gonna have to scramble outta here fast!" The team immediately began moving towards the field outside the flattened base, relying on their fighters to cover their retreat. Jason was bringing the Condor in to land, and Steven watched as the starboard guns barked out and downed two of the aerial aggressors. Steven smiled. _Probably Jim on that one._

The Sparrowhawks had destroyed their opposite number, seeing as it was only a single star, and Steven was grateful when he felt the clamps lock the Osprey into position. He quickly scrambled out of the cockpit and strapped himself into a seat for the hop back to their base. It was going to be a long two weeks.


	10. Chapter 10

Steven surveyed the target from behind a hill. Their second target, a large depot containing vehicles and a star of Cougars sitting by a lightweight bunker with a small runway and a few fighters parked on the tarmac, was located in a hilly region that had made it easy to sneak up on without being noticed. There were a few scouts patrolling the perimeter, but other than that the base was relatively quiet. Steven had decided to hit this target with a barrage from his and Franz's missile racks before going in, destroying some of the equipment before they got inside and eliminating some of the possible opposition. He had already locked up the trajectories for the two launches, which would involve two volleys from each of them, three if they had the chance. Keying his comm, Steven put his fingers on the trigger. "Alright, Franz, let's start this party with some fireworks. Three - two - one - let 'em fly!" Steven watched as the missiles rocketed out the launcher above him and flew towards their targets, glancing to the left and seeing Franz's volley launched as well. Pulling the trigger again, another volley blasted from the launcher. Steven looked over at the scouts, now bearing on their positions. He guaged the distance and figured he had time for one more shot. As soon as the missiles were on their way, he activated his jump jets and rocketed over the hill, slamming down onto two of the surprised vehicles as the third went into reverse and fired off a hasty shot. The round struck the Osprey's left torso, the armor shrugging it off. Steven glanced at his armor readout. Not too much damage, but enough to make a hit from something else do some damage. Steven watched as the vehicle, desperate to get away from the leviathan in front of it, backed right through his crosshairs. He pulled his trigger, watching as everything except his gauss rifle slammed into the tank. Spouting flames, the scout made a final dash for safety before exploding, ripping the armor apart at the seams. Steven watched it for a few moments, then turned and started into the base. The others had already executed their parts, moving into the base from either side and taking out the mechs while he and Franz had distracted the defense with their missile barrage. Steven started walking through the base like a shopper trolling the aisles of a store, only instead of shopping for things to buy, he was shopping for things he could blow into tiny little bits. Time and again he fired his lasers into the rows of vehicles, stepping on others, and all the while revelling in the manly pleasure of making things go boom.

Things were too easy. He needed something to spice this run up. Just then, his sensors blipped at him and he saw that a star of tanks was moving over the hills and down towards the base. _Hmm. Guess I got what I wished for. But was that all they could send? Ah, well, whatever._ "Alright guys. Destroy the base, have fun, don't touch my tanks." Vidia laughed. "Alright, you, go play already." Steven chuckled and turned to face the oncoming tanks. The leading pair fired at him, but he managed to dodge them. Slamming the footpedals, he smiled with evil glee as he came down on top of the lead tanks, frying one in the rear with his lasers. "Let's see, what do I want to have - flambe or german pancakes? I think I'll take the pancakes," he mused as he promptly squished another two. One tank managed to hit his right torso, shearing off a large amount of his armor. "Oh, and a flambe on the side." The tank promptly turned into a fireball as Steven blasted it with his lasers. The four tanks left tried to put some distance between them and their opponent, but Steven caught them easily and squished one, then proceeded to kick the other one over the hill, followed by a plume of smoke as the unfortunate soccer ball tank landed on the other side. The other two he simply stepped on as they tried to flee.

Steven turned to see that his team had completed their mission, and that the depot was a mass of smoke and rubble. "Well, that oughta do the trick."  
"Do you ever see any moments when you aren't at the forefront of the action?" Vidia asked.  
"Ah, yes, those are my favorites. I like to wave at them as they pass me by. Now, let's head on outta here."


	11. Chapter 11

Steven moved quietly - well, as quietly as a giant mech can move - through the trees. They'd completed every raid so far without a hitch, but he was starting to have a gut feeling that this last one wasn't going to be fun. Their last target was a large mech depot, with perhaps two trinaries of mechs kept in it. The Falcons had the advantage of numbers, which was only slightly mitigated by their possible element of surprise. And this mission was going to be hard. They not only had to do some damage to their opponents, but they also had to provide a distraction for their techs to plant the charges and refrain from doing too much damage before breaking off the battle and making a successful escape without allowing their enemies to track them down. It was a tall order, and Steven was wondering if he'd bit off more than he could chew. But there was no going back now. "Alright, people, it's do or die. Let's get cracking."  
"Did you have to mention dying?" Franz complained.

Steven marked the beginning of the attack with a shot from his gauss, striking a Marauder in the head and toppling it in front of one the hangars. Watching from his hilltop position, Steven was pleased to see his team advancing in perfect coordination towards their objectives. Vidia's weaponry was better at close-in fighting, so Steven had put her in the group moving into the fortification, while he and Ethan would provide fire support for her and the others. So far, things were looking good, but in an operation this complex, it couldn't last. Already a star of Shadowcats was moving on them, and Steven replied by firing into one of them, crumpling the leg and causing it to stumble. Ethan chimed in with his PPC, blasting one of the hostiles in the back. Turning to face its assailant, the mech gave Steven a perfect shot, the slug ripping through the armor and shattering the gyro, dropping the mech like a wilting flower. Steven fired his rifle again, damaging the rifle on one of the cats before it went up in flames from a barrage of PPC fire from James' Rifleman and a smack from Franz's hatchet. Steven fired into his first target's leg again, this time breaking the joint and snapping the leg in half. The other mech was short work when coming under fire from the entire team, but the other bays were starting to open. Steven started sweating. _How are we supposed to fight an enemy force almost ten times our size?_ He only hoped that the techs could plant those charges before it was too late.

A star of Cougars tried to get in behind their opponents, but Steven mowed the unsuspecting pilots into the dirt before they could do any real damage, though they did manage to get in seven or eight hits before going down. They'd been fighting for fifteen minutes now, and things were starting to get hot. The other pilots had been pushed back towards the edge of the compound, and Ethan had relocated to keep a bead on their targets, but there were just too many. Most of them were heavy or assault mechs, and the team had had to use every trick in the book to avoid being turned into scrap metal by them. Franz's Hatchetman had already been lost when it got blasted by a pair of Marauders, but he had been picked up by Kat before being captured. But Kat's Griffin was starting to look like a piece of swiss cheese, and James Rifleman had lost its left arm and looked about the same as the Griffin. Kiva was the only one without a scratch, but that was because she was staying behind Steven, since she would be little use anyway in such a heated fight. The only good thing was that they could move fast enough to outpace the enemy mechs and avoid being tracked. But that was only once the charges were placed. _Damn! What's taking so long?_ Suddenly, Steven's comm crackled to life. "We've set the eggs and we're in the green, cap. Break off any time you like." _Finally._ "Alright, folks, the eggs have been laid! Let's scramble our tails outta this hot zone!" Steven continued to fire his weapons while the other team members started to get themselves out of the compound, but it was going to be close. Suddenly, a fireball near the edge of the base caught Steven's eye. "Cap! Fairy's down, we can't get to her. Enemy's closing on her fast!" Steven simply kicked the Osprey into a run and started moving towards Vidia's mangled Thunder Fox. A Marauder trying to close in got a taste of nickel in the face, toppling on its back and blocking its comrades line of fire for a few precious moments. Steven immediately stopped the Osprey and got it as low to the ground as he could. Vidia had managed to climb from the cockpit of her mech, now a burning hulk of twisted metal, and started clambering up towards Steven. He could see that even though she was alive, she was injured badly. As she got closer, he could see her body had burned from the explosion and that she was in pain simply from moving. She dropped into the rumble seat as Steven sealed the hatch, As she strapped herself into the harness, Steven bounded up and away from the wreck, leaving a trail of energy bolts to slice into the ground he had just barely vacated. Dashing out into the open, he checked his sensor display and was relieved to see the rest of the team already moving for home. "Kiva, get moving fast as you can and let the medics know that we've got a casualty requiring immediate attention. Let's move people, we've got an appointment in space to keep and we don't want to miss it." Steven glanced at Vidia, who smiled wanly at him, then started pushing the Osprey as fast as he dared.


	12. Chapter 12

Steven bounded up the Condor's ramp and was hard pressed to keep from simply slamming the Osprey into its cubicle. In a flash he was unstrapped and carrying Vidia gently down to the waiting medics, who had him lay her on a stretcher before wheeling her to the medbay. Steven rushed to the cockpit and checked in with Jason. "How close are we to launch? Just looking at Vidia I can already tell we don't have the facilities to treat her injuries." Jason threw him a tired glance. "Everything is strapped down and ready, we're just waiting for the charges to be detonated." Steven knew Jason and the others could handle the proceedings without him this time, so he found an empty seat in the mech bay and tried to settle down. He was gratified to hear Jason's voice come over the intercom counting down to launch. Affirming his straps were good and snug, Steven braced himself for the launch. As the engines roared, the craft began rocketing forward and into the sky. gravity pulled down at him as the dropship soared into the sky and out into space. Things were going perfectly. But just as Steven began to relax a bit, a container came loose from its fastenings and shot towards him. Despite the risk of being thrown around the dropship like a rag doll, Steven struggled to undo his harness and get out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough. The crate slammed on top of him, then the world went black.

Steven blinked slowly. His eyelids felt as heavy as a Stinger. And his entire body ached all over. He blnked again, the weight seeming to lift from his eyes. He was in - a medbay. He stared at the ceiling above him, the lights making his eyes water slightly. He tried to turn his head, but cringed from the pain of the effort. "Shite," he tried to mumble, but only succeeding in a croaking, scratchy sound. "Ah, I see that you're awake." Steven moved his eyes to the left, noticing for the first time a doctor in a white lab coat looking down at him. "You're probably wondering where you are. You're in the Clan Wolf Medical Facility." Steven struggled to get his words out. "What... what happened?" The doctor smiled sadly. "Apparently you were the victim of a poorly fastened cargo container smashing into you. Fortunately, it was only partly full, otherwise you would have been dead long ago. Seeing as this is the only facility that has the equipment needed to treat you, your team brought you here. I'm surprised you even made it that long in such a condition." Steven groaned. "We've fixed you up, though. In a couple of days you'll be able to leave and get back to your unit. Though I would recommend not exerting yourself for a few months. But you should make a full recovery if you've gotten this far." Steven laid his head back into the pillows as the doctor left and drifted into slumber.

"Khan Phelan Kell, I have information that demands your immediate attention." Phelan glanced over at the doctor. "Very well. Let's hear it." The man opposite him sat down and pulled a sheaf of papers from his binder. "I was responsible for treating two patients recently who had been seriously injured, and both required large amounts of treatment in order to recover." Phelan frowned slightly. "Is that all there is?" The doctor shook his head. "I once worked in the eugenics program, and in order to treat them we took DNA samples from the patient's healthy tissue. One of them turned up results that intrigued me, as I was sure I had seen them before. So I ran a comparison to all the samples we have access to. The results are contained in these papers here." The doctor pushed the papers across Phelan's bloodwood desk. Picking them up, Phelan scanned over them. "Steven Brian McEvedy... commander of the Sturmoviks mercenary unit... " He took slightly longer analyzing the file summarizing the unit's most recent mission. Then he thumbed to the page at the back and studied the data printed there. His eyes widened in shock, and his breath caught in his throat. "This is indeed important." He set the file down and unlocked a secret safe hidden in the desk. Placing the papers inside, he locked it once more. "You're orders are to erase any trace of data that may lead to this leaking out. This is to remain between you and me alone. Not a word to anyone else, understood?" The doctor nodded. "Yes, khan. You have my word on penalty of death that I shall carry out your orders with everything I have." Phelan nodded back. "Good. We will have to keep our eyes on this man." The doctor bowed slightly and left the room. Phelan tapped his fingers on the desk. It had been a long time since he had even given any thought whatsoever to this subject, and its reemergence troubled him.

Steven, confined to a wheelchair due to doctor's orders and his own lack of strength, arrived outside of the unit's home, a small apartment complex they rented whenever they were on Arc-Royal. Vidia, also in a wheelchair, had left the hospital a day earlier since her condition hadn't been as severe as his. Steven smiled as Jason and Kallen helped him out of the hovercar that had brought him there, thanking the driver before he climbed back in and drove off. The Wolves had been kind enough to send him back to his unit without any trouble, and the bill for the hospital services had been surprisingly low for the operations Steven would have thought necessary. But he was glad to be back with his team, savoring the feel of being home as Kallen wheeled him into the main room. There he was swamped by the rest of the unit, asking if he was okay, what had happened, and the technician responsible for securing the crate apologizing profusely. Jason had to almost physically shoo them away so Steven could have room to breathe. He laughed, the sound still harsh and scratchy, but it made him feel good. The doctor's had told him that his voice would always be somewhat scratchy and rough, despite their best efforts, but Steven didn't care. It felt good to be back, and he felt like there was nothing that could be better.


	13. Chapter 13

Steven and Kallen sat at a small table going over expenses for the unit. The mission had paid them well, refilling their depleted war chest after their last mission. Steven had decided to keep a good part of the salvage they'd collected, but had opted to sell the HAGs, autocannons, endo steel, jump jets and fusion engines they had acquired. Those alone had given the team a huge amount of cash, and it left them with a stock of double heat sinks, ferro-fibrous armor plate, some missile racks, an assortment of lasers and PPCs, and an ECM suite and active probe. In addition, he'd kept the extrlight engines since it was possible to use them on their own mechs. All said, even though they had lost three battlemechs and almost all of their trucks, they had come out on top in the end. Once the other pilots were ready, he intended to start looking around for some new mechs to replace those lost. Even allowing for cost overruns in the mechs, the team still had plenty of money left, and Steven had put out some recruitment fliers that week. The papers had earned a quick response from experienced personnel, and the team had now managed to increase its tech support to the optimal level, as well as acquiring another team of medical personnel and a few squads of battle armor. They had even been able to increase their support forces, managing to replace the J-27s with the newer J-37 model, acquiring a heavy and a medium mech recovery vehicle, another Jifty, two armored personnel carriers, a pair of Karnov transports, and even a small mobile headquarters. There was even the possibility of replacing the team's aging and tempermental Sparrowhawks with newer designs that would be easier to maintain. Kallen set down her pencil and looked up at him. "Well, all considering, we should be able to buy the mechs and the fighters both if costs aren't too much of a factor. And depending on the units we get, we can upgrade them with the weapons we salvaged." She brushed a lock of red hair behind her ear. "Even better, I talked to those three Falcon techs we captured. According to them, they weren't treated too well by their comrades, so they've decided to join up with us instead. I would say we're looking at a major increase in our potential strength, which might attract some more lucrative contracts once you and Vidia are back up and running." Steven reached for his soda and took a sip. "Alright. Now, how about we go go see if the others are up for getting a few new mechs and fighters?" Kallen stood and stretched, then started wheeling Steven towards the common room, as his strength had still not returned. "Sounds like a plan to me."


	14. Chapter 14

Steven sat in the back of the hovercar with Franz, Busby and Kiva. They had just come back from their search for mechs, and the results had been good. Franz had opted to replace his Hatchetman with a Rook, while Busby had settled on a Wolfhound. Vidia had decided to buy another Thunder Fox, but had decided to upgrade it by swapping the armor for some of the ferro they'd salvaged, putting in a more powerful engine, and replacing the weaponry with a pair of extended range mediums, a four-tube Streak missile rack with two tons of ammo and a PPC. Steven had okayed the idea, since it would turn her new mech into a much more powerful opponent than her previous one. Even better, Kallen had managed to find a real deal, replacing their cranky old Sparrowhawks with newer omni-capable Daggers. They had had their new equipment delivered to the hangar, and they were currently on their way to inspect it. Steven had also found a few jeeps, which meant that they could stop renting hovercars like this one and save some money. He smiled as Busby and Franz chatted about old times, while Vidia struck up a conversation with Kallen, riding in the front next to Jason. "Say, what are you going to do with your mech, boss?" Steven looked over at Busby. "Well, I don't know yet. I haven't really decided what to do with it."  
"Well, when you do, you're gonna have to name it."  
"What?"  
"He's right," Franz chimed in. "Every custom mech has a name."  
Steven frowned. "Didn't think of that. Guess I'll have to find something won't I?"  
As the others turned back to their conversations, Steven drifted back into his thoughts.

Steven found himself in a dark room. No matter how hard he tried, nothing was visible. And then a wall of flames erupted in front of him. He backed away, scared and startled, as a giant wolf the size of a Warhammer appeared through the blaze. He turned and ran, yet found himself holding a gun as he did so. A blaze of defiance started inside, and he turned and fired at the wolf as he retreated. But the wolf didn't even flinch, gaining with every step. And then it opened its jaws wide, and Steven felt his courage leave him as the wolf closed for the kill.

Steven snapped upright in bed, his entire body soaked in a cold sweat. He looked out his window to see the first rays of sun starting to peek over the hill. _A dream. It was just a dream._ He flung the covers aside and started dressing. Even though the dream was gone, it had left some kind of mark on him. He could sense the fear even now, the defiance at being hunted down. The dream had seemed so real. And yet, it was not. But it troubled him, and he could not shake off the feeling that something was out there that had his name on its death list.


	15. Chapter 15

Phelan sat back in his chair and folded his hands beneath his chin. Things were not getting easier, and there was no sign of them doing so. He twirled the small bracelet in his fingers. Simple and grey, it had a single golden band through the center that shone when it caught the light. Simple and plain, to most people it would be nothing more than a simple bracelet. But to him, it was much more than that. He slipped it into his secret safe with the papers from Varin, the doctor he had met with almost a week earlier. So far, Steven had been doing little, going about the business of reconstructing his damaged forces and recovering his strength. He had gained quite a bit of reputation from his encounters with the Falcons as well, and even some of the Wolf in Exile warriors were talking about him with respect. Although things had been quiet concerning the Sturmoviks, Phelan knew that there would eventually be a time when that peace would be shattered. There was little he could do to stop it when that time came, and he could only try to stall its coming and hope for the best. He sighed and returned to his paperwork, hoping to draw his mind from the matter and clear his thoughts.

Steven walked into the hangar, gratified to finally be free of the wheelchair. Even though he still had to use crutches for now, he at least could move about on his own. He walked past the mech bays, watching as the technicians scrambled over the massive metal monsters, repairing faulty components and refitting the mechs with the new equipment each pilot had specified. Reaching the cubicle where his Osprey stood, Steven walked up to Vikan, one of the Falcon techs and now the man responsible for overseeing Steven's mech. Vikan turned as he approached and snapped a quick salute. "How are you feeling, sir?" Steven shrugged. "Just glad to be on my own two feet again. How goes the work, Vik?" Vikan smiled. "Everything is going on time. We should have the work done by tommorrow evening if everything goes well." The two of them turned and watched as the techs lowered the new gauss rifle into place and started securing it to the Osprey's back while others prepared to link the ammunition feeds to the weapon. "Also, I have the art you were wanting on her ready to be applied when we paint it up. Steven glanced over at Vikan's notepad as he held it out. The page had a rough sketch of a harpy-like female diving downwards, placed on a red eight-point star. The word 'Harpus' was written below the emblem in yellow scrollwork lettering. "I personally like it. What about you?" Steven nodded his approval. "It definitely evokes her flavor. I like it. Great work." Vikan grinned as he tucked the pad into his back pocket. "I'll paint it myself so it turns out right."

Steven glanced towards the fighters, watching briefly as the aerospace techs did a routine inspection on each one and chatted with the pilots about what weapons to load onto the airframes. The Daggers were worth every c-bill in Steven's opinion, since they were not only easier to maintain then the older Sparrowhawks, but were also omni-designs. Steven pulled his gaze from the sleek airframes and walked over to the Thunder Fox, stationed in the bay next to his. Vidia noticed him and waved, then turned towards her chief tech, another Falconer. Vidia was up on her feet and just as energetic as ever, and Steven was glad to see that she was in such good condition after her ordeal. Being covered in second and third degree burns was not something one could recover from easily, but Vidia was tougher than she looked. The modifications made to her mech had drastically changed its appearance, with the Corean light gauss now absent in favor of an extended range PPC. The original lasers were gone, replaced by a trio of medium pulse versions. The only thing that looked similar was the shape of the body and the Streak rack on the mech's left flank. Steven watched as the tech walked off to supervise the work as he walked up. "How are you feeling today?" Steven grinned slightly. "Better, that's for sure." Vidia frowned. "You're fibbing to me, I can tell. Come on." Steven sighed and sank onto the crutches slightly. "Yeah, okay. I didn't sleep well last night. But I'm fine." Vidia lowered her voice. "Nightmares?" Steven looked shocked. "How..?" Vidia looked a bit abashed. "I heard you scream last night, but I didn't want to ask about it at first." Steven racked his brain. Had he yelled out? He didn't remember. "Well, it doesn't matter. It was just a dream, nothing more. I'll be fine now." Vidia smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "You'd better." Steven watched, perplexed, as she walked off, then turned and headed towards the door.


End file.
